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Dynamics Of Crop Evapotranspiration Of Four Major Crops On A Large Commercial Farm: Case Of The Navajo Agricultural Products Industry, New Mexico, Usa, Koffi Djaman, Komlan Koudahe, Ali T. Mohammed

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Crop evapotranspiration (ETa) is the main source of water loss in farms and watersheds, and with its effects felt at a regional scale, it calls for irrigation professionals and water resource managers to accurately assess water requirements to meet crop water use. On a multi-crop commercial farm, different factors affect cropland allocation, among which crop evapotranspiration is one of the most important factors regarding the seasonally or annually available water resources for irrigation in combination with the in-season effective precipitation. The objective of the present study was to estimate crop evapotranspiration for four major crops grown on the Navajo Agricultural …

A 2d Chaotic Oscillator For Analog Ic, Partha Sarathi Paul, Parker Hardy, Maisha Sadia, Md Sakib Hasan

Faculty and Student Publications

In this paper, we have proposed the design of an analog two-dimensional (2D) discrete-time chaotic oscillator. 2D chaotic systems are studied because of their more complex chaotic behavior compared to one-dimensional (1D) chaotic systems. The already published works on 2D chaotic systems are mainly focused either on the complex analytical combinations of familiar 1D chaotic maps such as Sine map, Logistic map, Tent map, and so on, or off-the-shelf component-based analog circuits. Due to complex hardware requirements, neither of them is feasible for hardware-efficient integrated circuit (IC) implementations. To the best of our knowledge, this proposed work is the first-ever …

Traumatic Brain Injury Biomarkers, Simulations And Kinetics, Celeste Hicks, Akshima Dhiman, Chauntel Barrymore, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

This paper reviews the predictive capabilities of blood-based biomarkers to quantify traumatic brain injury (TBI). Biomarkers for concussive conditions also known as mild, to moderate and severe TBI identified along with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) that occur due to repeated blows to the head during one’s lifetime. Since the pathways of these biomarkers into the blood are not fully understood whether there is disruption in the blood–brain barrier (BBB) and the time it takes after injury for the expression of the biomarkers to be able to predict the injury effectively, there is a need to …

Accelerating Multiparametric Mri For Adaptive Radiotherapy, Shraddha Pandey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

MR guided Radiotherapy (MRgRT) marks an important paradigm shift in the field of radiotherapy. Superior tissue contrast of MRI offers better visualization of the abnormal lesions, as a result precise radiation dose delivery is possible. In case of online treatment planning, MRgRT offers better control of intratumoral motion and quick adaptation to changes in the gross tumor volume. Nonetheless, the MRgRT process flow does suffer from some challenges that limit its clinical usability. The primary aspects of MRgRT workflow are MRI acquisition, tumor delineation, dose map prediction and administering treatment. It is estimated that the acquisition of MRI takes around …

Electrophilic Aldehyde 4-Hydroxy-2-Nonenal Mediated Signaling And Mitochondrial Dysfunction, Sudha Sharma, Papori Sharma, Tara Bailey, Susmita Bhattarai, Utsab Subedi, Chloe Miller, Hosne Ara, Srivatsan Kidambi, Hong Sun, Manikandan Panchatcharam, Sumitra Miriyala

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Reactive oxygen species (ROS), a by-product of aerobic life, are highly reactive molecules with unpaired electrons. The excess of ROS leads to oxidative stress, instigating the peroxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) in the lipid membrane through a free radical chain reaction and the formation of the most bioactive aldehyde, known as 4-hydroxynonenal (4-HNE). 4-HNE functions as a signaling molecule and toxic product and acts mainly by forming covalent adducts with nucleophilic functional groups in proteins, nucleic acids, and lipids. The mitochondria have been implicated as a site for 4-HNE generation and adduction. Several studies clarified how 4-HNE affects the …

Perturbative Theoretical Model Of Electronic Transient Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy Of Molecular Aggregates, Paul C. Arpin, Daniel B. Turner

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

A chiral analog of transient absorption spectroscopy, transient circular dichroism (TCD) spectroscopy is an emerging time-resolved method. Both spectroscopic methods can probe the electronic transitions of a sample, and TCD is additionally sensitive to the dynamic aspects of chirality, such as those induced by molecular excitons. Here, we develop a theoretical description of TCD for electronic multi-level models in which the pump pulse is linearly polarized and probe pulse is alternately left- and right-circularly polarized. We derive effective response functions analogous to those often used to describe other four-wave mixing methods and then simulate and analyze TCD spectra for three …

Adaptive Multi-Scale Place Cell Representations And Replay For Spatial Navigation And Learning In Autonomous Robots, Pablo Scleidorovich

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Place cells are one of the most widely studied neurons thought to play a vital role in spatial cognition. Extensive studies show that their activity in the rodent hippocampus is highly correlated with the animal’s spatial location, forming “place fields” of smaller sizes near the dorsal pole and larger sizes near the ventral pole. Despite advances, it is yet unclear how this multi-scale representation enables navigation in complex environments.

In this dissertation, we analyze the place cell representation from a computational point of view, evaluating how multi-scale place fields impact navigation in large and cluttered environments. The objectives are to …

Film-Terminated Fibrillar Microstructures With Improved Adhesion On Skin-Like Surfaces, Gabriela Moreira Lana, Xuan Zhang, Christian Müller, René Hensel, Eduard Arzt

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Adhesives for interaction with human skin and tissues are needed for multiple applications. Micropatterned dry adhesives are potential candidates, allowing for a conformal contact and glue-free adhesion based on van der Waals interactions. In this study, we investigate the superior adhesion of film-terminated fibrillar microstructures (fibril diameter, 60 μm; aspect ratio, 3) in contact with surfaces of skin-like roughness (Rz 50 μm). Adhesion decays only moderately with increasing roughness, in contrast to unstructured samples. Sinusoidal model surfaces adhere when their wavelengths exceed about four fibril diameters. The film-terminated microstructure exhibits a saturation of the compressive force during application, implying a …

Computational Simulations Of The Effects Of Gravity On Lymphatic Transport, Huabing Li, Huajian Wei, Timothy P. Padera, James W. Baish, Lance L. Munn

Faculty Journal Articles

Physical forces, including mechanical stretch, fluid pressure, and shear forces alter lymphatic vessel contractions and lymph flow. Gravitational forces can affect these forces, resulting in altered lymphatic transport, but the mechanisms involved have not been studied in detail. Here, we combine a lattice Boltzmann-based fluid dynamics computational model with known lymphatic mechanobiological mechanisms to investigate the movement of fluid through a lymphatic vessel under the effects of gravity that may either oppose or assist flow. Regularly spaced, mechanical bi-leaflet valves in the vessel enforce net positive flow as the vessel walls contract autonomously in response to calcium and nitric oxide …

Fabricating 3-Dimensional Human Brown Adipose Microtissues For Transplantation Studies, Ou Wang, Li Han, Haishuang Lin, Mingmei Tian, Shuyang Zhang, Bin Duan, Soonkyu Chung, Chi Zhang, Xiaojun Lian, Yong Wang, Yuguo Lei

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Faculty Publications

Transplanting cell cultured brown adipocytes (BAs) represents a promising approach to prevent and treat obesity (OB) and its associated metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, transplanted BAs have a very low survival rate in vivo. The enzymatic dissociation during the harvest of fully differentiated BAs also loses significant cells. There is a critical need for novel methods that can avoid cell death during cell preparation, transplantation, and in vivo. Here, we reported that preparing BAs as injectable microtissues could overcome the problem. We found that 3D culture promoted BA differentiation and UCP-1 expression, and the optimal initial …

Updated Perspectives On The Role Of Biomechanics In Copd: Considerations For The Clinician, Jennifer M. Yentes, Wai-Yan Liu, Kuan Zhang, Eric J. Markvicka, Stephen I. Rennard

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Faculty Publications

Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) demonstrate extra-pulmonary functional decline such as an increased prevalence of falls. Biomechanics offers insight into functional decline by examining mechanics of abnormal movement patterns. This review discusses biomechanics of functional outcomes, muscle mechanics, and breathing mechanics in patients with COPD as well as future directions and clinical perspectives. Patients with COPD demonstrate changes in their postural sway during quiet standing compared to controls, and these deficits are exacerbated when sensory information (eg, eyes closed) is manipulated. If standing balance is disrupted with a perturbation, patients with COPD are slower to return to baseline …

Therapeutic Efficacies Of Nano Carriers In Delivering Drugs, Bailey Krueger, Taylor Frazier, Sheila Galbreath, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The drug release rates of poorly soluble medications such as doxorubicin has been investigated in this paper. Since the drug was fixed, different carriers used to deliver it and their release rates compiled from literature were evaluated in this paper. Even though targeting of drugs is very important in drug delivery, it is not within the scope of this paper. However, functionalization of the carrier may provide this benefit, those constructs are included for comparison in terms of hybrid constructs. Dendrimer, micelles and hybrid constructs used in the delivery of doxorubicin compared in this paper with respect to carrier size …

Therapeutic Efficacies Of Nano Carriers In Delivering Drugs, Bailey Krueger, Taylor Frazier, Sheila Galbreath, Tarun Goswami

Biomedical, Industrial & Human Factors Engineering Faculty Publications

The drug release rates of poorly soluble medications such as doxorubicin has been investigated in this paper. Since the drug was fixed, different carriers used to deliver it and their release rates compiled from literature were evaluated in this paper. Even though targeting of drugs is very important in drug delivery, it is not within the scope of this paper. However, functionalization of the carrier may provide this benefit, those constructs are included for comparison in terms of hybrid constructs. Dendrimer, micelles and hybrid constructs used in the delivery of doxorubicin compared in this paper with respect to carrier size …

Electrochemical Behaviour And Direct Cell Viability Analysis Of Hybrid Implants Made Of Ti-6al-4v Lattices Infiltrated With A Bioabsorbable Zn-Based Alloy, Noa Gabay Bass, Galit Katarivas Levy, Tomer Ron, Razi Vago, Jeremy Goldman, Amnon Shirizly, Eli Aghion

Michigan Tech Publications, Part 1

Biodegradable metals are being developed for biomedical implants or components of implants. Biodegradable zinc-based materials, in particular, have been shown to promote bone regeneration in orthopaedic applications. Here, we investigated the potential of a hybrid Ti-Zn system, comprising a Ti-6Al-4V biostable lattice produced by additive manufacturing (AM) infiltrated by a bioabsorbable Zn-2%Fe alloy, to serve as an osseointegrated implant for dental and orthopaedic applications. The osseointegration of implants can be enhanced by a porous implant structure that facilitates bone ingrowth to achieve superior bonding between the bone tissue and the implant. The hybrid material was evaluated in terms of microstructure …

A Nanofiber-Embedded Microfluidic Platform For Studying Neurobiology, Donghee Lee, Navatha Shree Sharma, S. M. Shatil Shahriar, Kai Yang, Zheng Yan, Jingwei Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Due to their biomimetic properties, electrospun nanofibers have been widely used in neurobiology studies. However, mechanistic understanding of cell-nanofiber interactions is challenging based on the current in vitro culture systems due to the lack of control of spatiotemporal patterning of cells and difficulty in monitoring single cell behavior. To overcome these issues, we apply microfluidic technology in combination with electrospun nanofibers for in vitro studies of interactions between neurons and nanofiber materials. We demonstrate a unique nanofiber embedded microfluidic device which contains patterned aligned or random electrospun nanofibers as a new culture system. With this device, we test how different …

Hybrid Timber Concrete Composite Slab For Analysis Of Lag Screw Embedment Connections, Jawad Al Lawati, Ece Erdogmus, Dennis Young, Husam Al Dughaishi, Moad Alosta, Zainab Al-Khafaji, Zaher Mundher Yaseen, Abdalrhman Milad

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Push-out-shear tests were used in this study to analyze lag screw connections in timber-concrete composite (TCC) slabs based on the embedment depth. The goal of this research is to look into the relationship between shear capacity and embedment depth in TCC, as well as to investigate the embedment strength of the wood. Experiments were carried out at different embedment depths (5.08 cm, 7.0 cm, and 8.9 cm). The prepared samples were examined in order to determine the failure modes and provide an accurate assessment of the influence of embedment depth on TCC slabs. The investigation on the embedment strength of …

Sustaining Water Conservation: A Synthesis Of Research On Motivators, Message Construction, And Tactics, Mahmudur R. Aveek, David E. Rosenberg

Civil and Environmental Engineering Student Research

Urban water managers face the challenge of sustaining conservation behavior. A review of 77 papers across water, energy, and environmental conservation was conducted to understand how programs encourage reduced water use. Motivators were external or internal. Theories of behavior change targeted different social-psychological factors. No single model addressed all aspects. Different message contents (water use, self-comparison, social comparison, leak information) and tactics (communication medium, frequency, program duration) reduced use by 0.5% to 25%. Reductions typically lasted less than a year. Quantifying the effects of specific motivators, message contents, and tactics was difficult due to varied contexts. Effective conservation messages included …

Connecting Phenotype To Genotype: Phewas-Inspired Analysis Of Autism Spectrum Disorder, John Matta, Daniel Dobrino, Dacosta Yeboah, Swade Howard, Yasser El-Manzalawy, Tayo Obafemi-Ajayi

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is extremely heterogeneous clinically and genetically. There is a pressing need for a better understanding of the heterogeneity of ASD based on scientifically rigorous approaches centered on systematic evaluation of the clinical and research utility of both phenotype and genotype markers. This paper presents a holistic PheWAS-inspired method to identify meaningful associations between ASD phenotypes and genotypes. We generate two types of phenotype-phenotype (p-p) graphs: a direct graph that utilizes only phenotype data, and an indirect graph that incorporates genotype as well as phenotype data. We introduce a novel methodology for fusing the direct and indirect …

Tuning The Structural Properties Of Cellulose Acetate Thin Films: A Demonstration Of Confinement And Antiplasticization In Cellulose Acetate Butyrate, Keegan Reece Parkhurst

Graduate Theses - Chemical Engineering

The development of high-performance cellulose acetate thin-film composite membranes will be essential to solving the growing water scarcity problems. To do this, understanding the fundamental structure of thin cellulosic films and its relation to transport is essential. In this work, thin cellulose acetate butyrate films were fabricated at varying thickness and treatments, such as soaking and plasticizer treatment. Their mechanical properties were analyzed using a surface wrinkling approach, and their hygroscopic properties were measured using swelling measurements and surface wrinkling under humid conditions. This work demonstrates confinement in cellulose acetate butyrate films at thicknesses below 45 to 70 nanometers. Plasticization …

Keys To Genus Of Calanoid Copepods Of China Seas, Chang-Tai Shih, Qing-Chao Chen, Yang-Chi Lan, Shih-Hui Hsiao, Chi-Yu Weng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

No abstract provided.

Calanoid Copepods Of China Seas, Chang-Tai Shih, Qing-Chao Chen, Yang-Chi Lan, Shih-Hui Hsiao, Chi-Yu Weng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Calanoid copepods are a well-recognized taxonomic group of Crustacea. They were already placed, with one cyclopoid (Scribella) and five calanoid (Acartia, Calanus, Candacia, Euchirus (= Euchaeta), and Pontella) genera, under a single taxonomic unit, the Calanidae, by Dana [1]. Giesbrecht and Sars are the two early principal contributors to the taxonomy of Copepoda, including the Calanoida.

Based on the location of the body articulation, Giesbrecht [2] divided copepods into two groups, the Gymnopleoden and Podopleoden. All copepods, characterized by an articulation between the fifth pedigerous (leg-bearing) somite and genital somite, separating the body into an anterior part (prosome) and a …

Calanoid Copepods Of China Seas-Introduction And Acknowledgement, Chang-Tai Shih, Qing-Chao Chen, Yang-Chi Lan, Shih-Hui Hsiao, Chi-Yu Weng

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

No abstract provided.

Direct Material Property Determination: One-Dimensional Formulation Utilising Full-Field Deformation Measurements, Sreehair Rajan-Kattil, Michael A. Sutton, Subramani Sockalingam, Frank Thomas, Tusit Weerasooriya, Stephen Alexander

Faculty Publications

A direct approach is described to determine the elastic modulus distribution in a nominally heterogeneous material subject to tensile/compression loading and primarily experiencing deformations in the axial direction. The formulation is developed for uniaxial applications using basic theoretical constructs, resulting in a computational framework that has a matrix form [A] {E} = {R}, where the [A] matrix components are known functions of measured axial strains and axial positions, {R} components are known functions of axial body forces, applied loads and reactions and {E} components are the unknown elastic moduli at discrete locations along the length of the specimen. For a …

Features Designing Special Clothing For The Hot Climate Of Uzbekistan, N Kh Mirtalipova, N A. Isaxujayeva

Technical science and innovation

This paper considers the issues of establishing the relationship between the properties of fabric, clothing design and the comfort of clothing; communication of the size of the human body, allowance for free fitting, modern design when developing the design of clothing; connection of the allowance for free fitting with a suitable air gap. A diagram is given that characterizes the dependence of the comfort of clothing on its design and properties of fabrics. A mathematical model of the processes of air exchange in the underwear space is considered, which will allow obtaining more complete information and establishing more stringent dependences …

Biological Treatment Of Cannery Wastes, Yung-Tse Hung, Seyedkiarash Sharifiilierdy, Howard H. Paul, Christopher R. Huhnke, Rehab O, Abdel Rahman

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

This chapter reviews various methods of cannery wastewater biological treatment, namely up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), sequencing batch reactor (SBR), three-stage aerobic rotating biological contactor (RBC), three sequentially arranged reactors (anaerobic-anoxic-aerobic reactors), lagooning, and anaerobic digestion. The general principles for dealing with the uncertainty of general wastewater treatment plants are applied to control the uncertainty in cannery wastewater treatment. An overview of on the application of Monte Carlo, support vector machine (SVM), artificial neural network (ANN), and genetic algorithm to manage the uncertainty in the biological treatment of wastewater is provided.

Introductory Chapter: Uncertainty Management To Support Pollution Prevention And Control Decisions., Rehab O, Abdel Rahman, Yung-Tse Hung

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Prototype Catalytic Membrane Reactor For Dimethyl Ether Synthesis Via Co2hydrogenation, Qiaobei Dong, Weiwei L. Xu, Xiao Fan, Huazheng Li, Naomi Klinghoffer, Travis Pyrzynski, Howard S. Meyer, Xinhua Liang, Miao Yu, Shiguang Li

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Dimethyl ether (DME) has become attractive as a potential environmentally friendly substitute for diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) due to its similar properties to those of LPG, high cetane number, but less carbon emissions. In this work, we developed a novel prototype-scale catalytic membrane reactor to synthesize DME directly from CO₂and renewable H₂, which could address the environmental and fuel security issues in a cost-effective way. This membrane reactor was equipped with superior hydrophilic NaA zeolite membranes and bifunctional Cu-ZnO-ZrO₂-Al₂O₃/HZSM-5 catalysts. The effects of the reaction temperature and gas …

Biomaterials With Diverse Physical & Chemical Signals For Tissue Engineering Applications, Mohammed Mehdi Benmassaoud

Theses and Dissertations

Cells within natural tissues are exposed to a myriad of biochemical and biophysical cues, and it is challenging to recapitulate these signals in vitro. The goal of this dissertation is to create materials with distinct biophysical and biochemical signals as platforms that induce controllable yet diverse cellular responses. To evaluate the effects of heterogeneous biophysical cues on cell behavior, cells were encapsulated in porous scaffold-hydrogel composites, and it was found that cellular metrics (morphology, matrix mechanosensing) varied within soft (hydrogel) and rigid (scaffold) composite regions. To create soft materials with spatially defined biochemical signals, hydrogels that can be subsequently photopatterned …

Preface For Millard Beatty, E. Baesu, Roger Fosdick

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Professor Beatty has contributed a wide variety of research papers and book articles on topics in finite elasticity, continuum mechanics and classical mechanics, including some fundamental experimental work. His works are clear and informative and expose a didactic quality. In the following, we briefly touch upon some of the highlights of his research involvement throughout the years.

Design And Development Of Computer-Based Decision Support Systems To Aid Clinicians For Screening & Early Detection Of Diseases, And Better Treatment Plan., P C Siddalingaswamy

Technical Collection

Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods are increasing in prominence in all fields of medical science and are especially pertinent to modern ophthalmology and dermatology as follows. Diabetes mellitus, a metabolic disorder, has become one of the rapidly increasing health threats both in India and worldwide. The complication of the diabetes associated to retina of the eye is diabetic retinopathy. A patient with the disease must undergo periodic screening of eye. Limited number of specialist ophthalmologists in most of the countries motivates the need for AI for analysis of retinal images. This could reduce the workload of ophthalmologists, also aid in diagnosis. …